Jakarta Area - Jabodetabek

This 125-hectares botanical garden is located approximately 1,300-1,425 meters on the slopes of Mount Gede Pangrango. It was founded in 1862 by the Dutch botanist Johannes Elias Teijsmann as an extension of the Bogor Botanical Gardens. The botanical garden at Cibodas, en route to Bandung from Puncak is beautifully laid out over a large area offering a serene and tranquil getaway from the humdrum of routine. Good well laid roads make driving around a breeze while one can stop anywhere and picnic,walk around or just soak in the tranquility of the park.

Off the beaten track and not popular as a tourist destination the garden is clean, attractive and refreshingly rejuvenate. The garden is the first place that Cinchona trees were grown in Indonesia for Quinine (anti-malaria) production. You will find an outstanding collection of ferns, palms, 65 pieces of eucalypti, Mexican mountain pines, and glasshouses bursting with cacti and succulents. There is a road loops around the gardens, passing via the Japanese garden with its cherry trees, and also paths leading to Cibeureum waterfall (about 2 hour round trip through rich tropical rain forest). The path continues to the summit. A good guide book titled “Cibodas to Cibeureum” usually available at the office. The book points out and explains aspects of the flora and fauna at various markers. There is a small entrance fee for each person and the car for the botanical gardens and a larger fee for the trek through the national park..

Puncak (Peak) has been known ever since Dutch colonial days as the mountain resort for Jakarta’s inhabitants to breathe in fresh mountain air over the weekend. Puncak is actually the peak of Mt.Gede-Pangrango, located in the Bogor-Cianjur-Sukabumi regencies, West Java Province, Indonesia. Located 7km before the summit, are the lush, tea-carpeted hills of Gunung Mas Estate .This tea plantation was built by Dutch Colonial Government and now is owned by PT.Perkebunan Nusantara VII, Gunung Mas. You can wander through the tea plantation, watch the pickers at work and later observe the process of drying and packing in the factory. End the visit by enjoying a cup of tea, looking at the green expanse of tea plantations and mountains with blue sky making the heart calm and forget every day routines for a moment .

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This is an interactive nature reserve and farm. You can plant rice, fish, pick your own fruit and camp. You can go alone or with a group (recommended to make reservation – see contact info). For groups of a minimum of 20 persons, an educational package costing IDR 95,000/person can be arranged as well as other packages such as outbound, seminar/meeting, etc. On-site cottages are available (9 cottages) that sleep up to 5 adults each with prices start from IDR 1,575,000/night.

Jakarta Sales and Marketing Office:

Jl. S. Iskandar Muda No. 2A, Arteri Pondok Indah

Tel: (021) 7398808.

The Thousand Islands (Kepulauan Seribu) are a chain of islands to the north of Jakarta’s coast. It consists of a string of 110 islands, stretching 45km north into the Java Sea at West Jakarta Bay and in fact north of Banten Province.

An area of 107,489 hectares of land and sea was declared by the Minister of Agriculture in 1982 and designated by a Forestry Ministerial Decree in 2002 as the Taman Nasional Laut Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands Marine National Park). There may be as many as 700 individual reefs in the complex. Public access is prohibited on two of the islands, Panjaliran Barat and Panjaliran Timur, where sea turtles are conserved. The decree further states that 36 islands may be used for recreation. Of these 36 islands, only 13 islands are fully developed with 11 islands are homes to resorts and two islands are historic parks. Twenty-three islands are privately owned and are not open to the public. The rest of the islands are either uninhabited or support a fishing village.

In general, the plants that grow in the Park are dominated by coastal species like coconut palm (Cocos nucifera), pandan (Pandanus sp.), cemara laut (Casuarina equisetifolia), cangkudu (Morinda citrifolia), butun (Barringtonia asiatica), mangroves (Bruguiera sp.), breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), ketapang (Terminalia catappa), and kecundang (Cerbera odollam). Sea vegetation commonly found in the Park consists of seaweed divisions like Rhodophyta, Chlorophyta and Phaeophyta as well as classes of sea grasses like Halimeda sp., Padina sp., Thalassia sp., Sargassum sp., and Caulerpa sp. The dominant animals in the Park include 54 sea biota species which form part of the coral reef ecosystem, 144 species of fish, 2 species of giant clam, 6 species of sea grass, sea worms of various colours and 17 species of coastal bird.

This Park forms a hatching site for hawksbill sea turtle, and green sea turtle. The hawksbill turtle is an endangered species and is rarely found in other waters. These turtles are bred on Pramuka Island. This activity is aimed at recovering the turtle population, which had almost reached extinction. Breeding activities include egg hatching in a semi-natural way and caring for the baby turtles till they are ready to be released into their natural habitat. Most coastal areas of this Park are surrounded by mangrove forest, where monitor lizards, golden ring snakes and reticulated pythons can be found.

There is a range of accommodation, (usually cottages) and prices. Two resort islands that are popular with expats are Pulau Pantara and Pulau Putri. However as is the name Thousand Islands, as are the resorts. We recommend you research the islands and find the one that meets your family‘s needs..

This is a mini-sized outward bound facility for children. The outward bound playground consists of a series of challenges on rope/wood constructed equipment, with each station getting a little harder (and higher!), culminating in an exciting flying fox ride. On entry, all children are fitted with a safety harness, helmet and gloves. At each stage they are accompanied by the center’s staff who are safety conscious and reasonably well trained (though not much English spoken). The higher challenges are closely supervised and the children are well clipped in to the safety ropes and supports. Bring lots of water as the area does not have a lot of shade and gets hot. There is a camping ground at the centre and it is possible to arrange guided walks (with the kids carried by porters if you like) to nearby waterfalls and valleys. Restaurant and accommodation are available.

Ticket price:

IDR 270,000 (kids), IDR 350,000 (adults)

Weekdays subject to arrangement with minimum booking for 30 people.